In July 2024, Delta and Riyadh Air announced plans to launch a partnership, which would include the Atlanta-based airline adding flights to Saudi Arabia. Then in October 2025, Delta formally announced plans to fly to Saudi Arabia. There’s now an additional update, as the schedule for the flight has been published, and tickets are expected to go on sale shortly.
Delta will fly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as of October 2026
As of October 23, 2026, Delta plans to launch flights between Atlanta (ATL) and Riyadh (RUH). The flight will operate daily for the first week, and then 3x weekly after that, on a year-round basis. The flight is expected to operate with the following schedule:
DL318 Atlanta to Riyadh departing 10:30PM arriving 7:35PM (+1 day)
DL317 Riyadh to Atlanta departing 11:30PM arriving 7:05AM (+1 day)
The 7,283-mile journey is blocked at 13hr5min eastbound and 15hr35min westbound, making it among Delta’s longest routes. Delta will use an Airbus A350-900 for the route, featuring a total of 275 seats. This includes 40 business class seats, 40 premium economy seats, and 195 economy seats.
Here’s how Delta CEO Ed Bastian describes this:
“Launching service to Riyadh marks a key step in Delta’s global growth as we start our second century of flight. Our new flights will connect customers to this dynamic, fast-growing region while delivering the care, comfort and reliability they expect. It reflects our bold vision to create meaningful opportunities and experiences in every corner of the world in the years ahead.”
Meanwhile here’s how Saudi Arabia Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb describes this:
“We welcome Delta to Riyadh and look forward to the opportunities this service will create for travelers worldwide. Delta’s new nonstop flights between Atlanta and Riyadh mark a significant milestone in strengthening global connectivity between our nations and will open new doors for tourism and cultural exchange while driving business and innovation.”
For context, Riyadh Air is Saudi Arabia’s ambitious new airline startup, which has just launched flights (though they’re not initially on sale to the public). It’s logical enough that Delta would choose to fly out of Atlanta, as I imagine that Riyadh to New York (JFK) will be among Riyadh Air’s first long haul routes, so Delta would want to serve a complementary market, by routing passengers via its Atlanta mega-hub.
What’s Delta’s logic for launching flights to Riyadh?
At least in the short term, Delta’s motivation for flying to Riyadh is clear. Saudi Arabia is providing massive subsidies to any airline willing to fly to Riyadh, to the point that they basically can’t lose money flying to the country.
There aren’t many airlines that love subsidies and loopholes more than Delta, so clearly that’s the motivation here. It’s not like US carriers actually directly make that much money flying people, so if the airline can be assured it won’t lose money flying to Saudi Arabia, that’s a good deal!
It has been kind of funny to listen to Bastian’s justification for flying to Saudi Arabia, given Delta’s historical opposition to Gulf carriers and subsidies (when it’s convenient).
For that matter, I couldn’t help but be amused by Bastian recently claiming that Saudi Arabia is one of his favorite places that he has been in a very long time (around nine minutes into the below interview).
Is there a bigger long term play here, though? Sure, potentially. Riyadh Air’s goals are clear — the airline is funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, and the intent is to increase connectivity to and from Riyadh, and to boost tourism, as part of the country’s long term vision. The argument is that Riyadh has been underserved for years, given the size of the population.
We’re seeing Riyadh Air establish partnerships with other airlines ahead of launch. In addition to Delta, Riyadh Air is also partnering with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic, so it’s pretty clear the “ecosystem” in which the airline is focusing.
Many years down the road, I could see Riyadh being a logical connecting points for Delta, once Riyadh Air’s network matures. That’s especially true if the two airlines have a close partnership.
The reality is that unlike American (with Etihad and Qatar) and United (with Emirates), Delta is really weak in the Middle East, and doesn’t otherwise have a “preferred” partner, meaning many points in the Middle East, Africa, and India, are without good connecting opportunities. So Delta is doing what it can here, and something is better than nothing.
But personally I don’t see this as some gold mine for the airline, and there’s no denying that from a US-centric perspective, flying through Riyadh isn’t considered as “glitzy” as flying through somewhere like Dubai. And as we know, Delta frequent flyers love their Woodford, so… 😉
Bottom line
As of October 2026, Delta plans to launch nonstop flights between Atlanta and Riyadh with an Airbus A350. Flights are expected to go on sale shortly, and the scheduled for the service has been published.
I understand the long term plan for Delta to partner with Riyadh Air, as Riyadh Air grows its network. In the short term, this seems mainly like an effort to chase subsidies, which is something that Delta is really good at. It’s the same reason that the airline flies to Brisbane (BNE).
But I’m sure someone will be along shortly to tell us that I’m wrong, and that Delta is really playing 4D chess, and you know, Delta is really on the leading edge of culinary innovation, or something (or as Bastian describes it, this is a “bold vision to create meaningful opportunities and experiences”).
What do you make of Delta launching Atlanta to Riyadh flights?
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